Drying machine



May 1, 1951 R. c. PARKEs 2,550,716

DRYING MACHINE Filed Feb. 1.0, 1948v 3 sheets-sheet 1 F I a PZp/y C Par/fe;

A TTO/QNEY May l, 1951 R. C. PARKES 2,550,716

DRYING MACHINE Filed Feb. 1o, 1948 :s sheets-sheet 2 Pa Zp/7 C fijar/165 QM 77W' May 1, 1951 R. c. PARKEs 2,550,716

DRYING MACHINE Filed Feb. l0, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 vf/v VEN To@ Patented May 1, 1951 UNITED STATES rATsNr orifice VDRYNG MACHINE Ralph C. Parkes, Glenside, Pa. Application February 10, 1948, Serial No. 7,392

, 3 Claims.

invention relates to the art of drying a material by placing the'material in,.or moving it through, a vdry-ing chamber into which la fluid dryingmedium, `such as heated air, is admitted. When amaterial is dried in this manner, the portion thereof which is proximal to the point of admission ofthe air will be subjected to the full, or maximum drying potential of the vair and will, therefore, dry ahead of the distal portions of the material which `are subjected to the drying potential remaining after the air hasv come into contact with and absorbed some moisture from theproximal portions of the material. For example, if loops of cloth, skeins of yarn,

or'the like are suspended on poles placed in or 3- propelled through a vdryingchamber, and if the heated air is caused to flow downwardly through the skeins or loops, the upper portions of the 1oops,which are acted on' by the fair while it still possesses its full drying potential, will dry `ahead of the lower portions thereof. In addition to the reduced drying potential ofthe air when it reaches the lower portions of the skeins, it must'be remembered that, due to gravity, the lower portions of the loops have a higher Vmoisture content than the upper portions' thereof.

This condition can be remedied by turning the loops of cloth or the skeins of yarn,` end to end, at some point along their progress through the drying chamber so as to bring the lower portions of the loops or skeins nearer to the pointV of admission of the heated air. Y

One object of my invention is to produceimprcvedmeans for interchanging the positions of the various portions of the materials to be dried so as to subject all portions of the material to the action of the heated air possessing maximum drying potential so as to obtain uniform drying'of all portions of the material.

When the poles or other supports on which the loops, skeins or the like are hung, are relatively widely separated while theymove through the drying' chamber, the problem of causing the 'skeins or loops to turn end to end, is notl a-'dif- Avcult one. But, if the poles referred to are spaced the skeins are hung are moved through the drying chamber in relatively closeformation .thus fully utilizing the available space and compelling the heated air to pass through, instead of along the surface of, the skeins or other material.

`It is therefore a further object of the invention to produce an improved method andan im#-` proved apparatus whereby the poles may be moved through the drying chamber in close formation @and whereby the material on Yeach pole is automatically turned, end to `end relative to the. pole, at the desired point inthe drying chamber, without the material on vthe pole being turned getting tangled with the Vmaterial on the preceding or succceeding poles.

During the drying of certain `materials it may be desirable to subject the material to some additional treatment such for example, as cooling, humidifying., etc., and it may .be preferable to apply such treatment to successive; separate portions of the material.

It is therefore a still further `object of the invention to produce an improved method and an improved apparatusfwhereby the foregoing object maybe accomplished.

A still further object of theinvention is to accomplish all of the foregoing objects in a single, practical and inexpensive manner,

These and other objects areattained by my invention as set forth in the following specification and as illustrated` in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. yl is a vfragmentary and diagrammatic side elevational view of a drying machine embodying my invention, certain parts being. omitted.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, diagrammatic sectional View on line' 2 2 on Fig. `l. e

Fig.- 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on line 3-3 on Fig. 2.

Figs'. 4, 5 and 6 are fragmentary views illustrating the manner in which a loop of cloth or a skein of yarn is turned end to end.

Fig. 7 is an enlargement of the central portion of Fig.` 3.

Figs. 8 toll are fragmentary views, partlyin section and partly in elevation, showing certain parts which, for clarity of illustration were ornitted, from the other views.

A machine of the type set forth'includes an insulatedwall structure l defining a vdrying chain-` ber IE-and suitable brackets l3-:for supporting tracks 1.4 onwhich rollers I6 are adapted to ride. The rollers lli andthe pivotallyjoined, links I8 form endless'conveyors for moving a plurality of supports 2B through the drying?,` chamber. I2. The

"direction, as viewed inl Fig. 3.

v'that the' skein supports 20 are in the nature oi :r,eiat'ively`fiat, and relativelywide blades orbarS soi that, as they rotate, the .free edges 48 ofthe supports will engage' the vadjacent portions ofthe of the shafts 2i, as viewed in Fig. l, are inserted into sockets which form part of or are secured to the adjacent conveyor and the left hand sockets which receive the left hand ends of the shafts are secured to, or form part of, a gear 82 whichv `will be hereinafter further described. l

The conveyors move from the feed to the Vdelivery end or" the machine as indicated-bythe arrow in Fig. l so as to subject the skeins to the action of a drying medium such as heated air which is admitted to the chamber I2 in suitable volume, at suitable temperature and at a suitable In the embodimentshown the heated airis delivered through nozzles 23 located above 'the conveyors so that the air Ymust travel -downwardly through the chamber l2. The manner 'in which vthe air is heated and delivered to the "nozz'les' is conventional and is therefore not shown.

'The conveyors on opposite `sides of the drying chamber are arranged totravel endlessly over sprocket wheels .28, and 30, which are driven 'by belts or chain drives '32 which derive from power :from any conventional sources of power 34. The sprocket wheels 2B exert a `pushing'action on the links of the conveyors and thus cause'the -links to assume almost Verticalpositions so that the skein supports 28 move in close formation as shown in the left hand portion of Figs. 1 and 3.

This insures penetration of the material by the heated air, and insures maximum utilization of the space in the drying chamber. But, as above stated,'the upper portions of the skeins, which are acted on by maximum drying potential'the heated vair delivered'through'nozzles 23 will dry well ahead of the lower portions of the skeins f;

which are acted .on by the air after it has been partly Vcooled and partly saturated.

According to my invention, .I provide means for turning the skeins, end to end, relative to the nozzles so that the lower, relatively wet, portions of the skeins will be in a position 'to receive the initial impact of the heated air. To this end, I

- provide an intermediate pair ofI sprocket wheels 38 which engage the conveyors Yat the point in the drying chamber at which it is desiredto turn,

.or change the position of the skeins.

As the sprockets 38 rotate, in clockwise direcv'tionas viewed in Figs. 1, 3 and '7, they exert a pulling action on the conveyor links to their left, and a pushing action on the conveyor links to f their right. In this way, as the links carrying a skein support rst engage the wheels, the links Vare pulled toward a horizontal position land the support will be spaced from the other succeeding supports as shown at 28A .in Fig. 3. Above the vpropelled past the racks, they cause their respective skein supports to rotate, in counterclockwise Itwill be noted imentof the markfin Figs-:4 ito16.

skein support.

4 skeins and cause the skeins to rotate relative to their support.

For example, as the skein supports 20 move toward the sprocket wheels 38, they are closely packed and the sides 48 and 58 of the skein are parallel to the wide sides of the supports, the top -portions of the skeins will rest on the supports 2l) and the bottom portions of the skeins will be below the lower free edges 46 of the supports 20. As each support uarrives ibelowzthe left hand ends of -'the racks E8, the' support begins to turn in counterclockwise direction, and the edge -46 thereof engages the adjacent vertical side 48 Aof lthe skeins carried thereby and transposes them, in the manner shown in Figs. 4 to 6, to the opposite side. The rotation of the support also causes the top portions of the skeins carried by lsuch support to exchange positions with the llower portions thereof. The course of movement of the skeins relative to their supports can be readily :visualizedby tracingy the path'oi moven will be noted thatthe sprocket wheeis a, in .propelling .the skein :supports towardthe Adelivery yend of thedryins hamberfexert a'pushing'action against .the conveyor links sothat theskein' sup- `por-ts will complete their Ajourney through .dr-ying chamber in close formation. l

vThe length of each rack 40, as .shown 'in the drawings, is about equal to the circumference of each gear 42 so that the gears and, hence, the

.skein supports, will make one complete lrevolution, as each support moves under the racks. Also, the lengths of the links `are related tothe 4lengths of the racks and to the width of .the supyfrom the supports to its left andf'rghu to fpermit lturning of the support and the .skeins thereon without touching or tangl-ing with va preceding `oriollowing support. It is .however within the scope of this invention to vary the lengths of .the racks, and the links and the widthlof the supports .28 relative to each other and to thecircumference of the engaging gears, ,as may be desired.

By the method and arrangement -described each support, at the selected point dur-ing its movement through vthe drying chamber, is pulled apart from the supports immediately following lit and the wet lower portion of the skein is moved to the top vof the Vsupport while the upper. dry portion of the skein is moved to a jposition below the This insures uniform drying of the skeins and, because it permits the vskeins to be closely packed while moving in the portions of the drying chamber tov the vleft and to the 4rig-ht ofthe sprocket wheels 38, the .space and the heat input are fully and .efciently used.

It is obvious that the `method and structure disclosed are adaptable to the dryingv of .a large variety of articles andthat they arealso adapted for usein a .machine in which the heated-air is ythan once during their progress through the drying chamber.

if it is desired to treat the skeinsl at position 28A., without turning them, the racks and gears may be omitted and when 'a' particular skein .support has been separated from the preceding and `following supports, bythe; action .of .the sprocket desired. For example, in some cases the material,

while traversing position 26A, will be'subjected to cold air, moist air, steam, or the like, from suitu able nozzles 58 as shown in Fig. 11.

A1so,vwhile the skeins are turning, as shown in Figs. 4 to 6,? it may be desirable-to shield them somewhat from the high velocity 'drying air emanating from the nozzles 23 so as to guard against the strands of yarnA lbeing blown about" and tangled. To this end, I-provide a shield 60 which isshown in Fig. 11 and which overlies the space ini'which the skeins are turned.

While', by the structure so far described, the links of the conveyors will assume extended, horizontal positions when pulledV bylthe jsprocket wheels and will Vassume substantially vertical, closely packed, positions when pushed by the sprocket wheels, I prefer to provide positive means for effecting these results so' as to insure uniform performance. To this end I provide a chain col-v lapsing device which is shown in Figs. 8 and 9,

. and a chain extending or spreading device which is shown in Fig. 10, for supplementing the action of the sprocket wheels.

The chain collapsing device shown in Figs. S and 9 includes a rocker arm 62 which is pivoted at 63 to ears 64 carried by the frame work of the machine so as to locate the arm 62 abovevthe conveyor. It will of course be understood that a chain collapsing device will be mounted above` each conveyor. Each chain collapsing device is provided with a pendent head 65 at one end thereof and a pendent head 68 at the other end thereof. The pendent head 66 is adapted to engage the links of the chains and may be termed the engag- 'Y vide'd with a head 'M adapted to engagethe links ofthe chain and the weight of the portion of the" i; farm 1e to the right of the pivot n is greater than the remaining portion thereof so that Athe head 'Hl is always riding on the links of the-chain. The

' ,head 14' is tapered downwardly and 'is provided with a cam surface 15. The function of the head. `'Hl `is tovapply a )drag on` the links as they pass vsuccessively thereunder to insure that the links` assume their extended, horizontaljpositions. y Forv this reason, the chain collapsing device is placed near the sprocket wheel or wheels `which exert a pushing action on the links, as for extion of the wheels 38 in causing the links to asing head and the pendent head 68 is adopted to The pendent head 68 and the portion of theV chain collapsing deviceto the left ol' pivot point 63 are made heavier than the remaining Vportion of the device so that when the pendent head 68 is not riding on a roller I6, the pendenthead 66 will be elevated out of engagement with the chain links. It will be noted that by this arrangement the motive power for the chain collapsing device is furnished by the movement of the conveyor which causes the spaced rollers I6 to successively come under the pendent head 68 so as to rock the arm 62 about the pivot 63. To facilitate the operation and make the action gradual, the heads 66 and B8 are provided with cam surfaces 69. As will be seen from Figsf and 9 the parts are so arranged and proportioned that as the pendent head 68 approaches its high point, and the head 66 approaches its low point, the pivotal connection of any pair of adjacent links will approach a position below the head 66 so that the main pressure of the head 66 will be exerted in the vicinity ofthe pivot pins connecting the links.

Each chain extending device of Fig. 10 includes a rocker arm 'I pivoted at 1| to ears 12 carried by the frame of the machine so as to locate the arm 16 above the conveyor. The arm 10 is pro- Vpropelling said supports,

sume their horizontal positions. While I have shown the chain collapsing device only near the sprocket wheels 28, and the chain extending deviceonly near the sprocket wheels 38, it is within the scope of the invention to place these devices wherever their action is needed.

The wide flat pendent bars 26 have their center of gravity so located that, if free to move, they will naturally assume the vertical positions shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Therefore, there is no `danger of these bars turning about their axes unless they are positively actuated in the manner described. Also,because they have a relatively narrow transverse section or thickness, they occupy minimum space in the drier.

What I claim is:

l. In the art of drying loops of material in a drying chamber, the method which includes admitting a heated fluid drying medium -into said drying chamber, placing said loops cn supports with 'said supports passing through said loops, in close formation, through a portion of said drying chamber, with a portion of each of said loops relatively near the point at which said fluid medium is admitted into said chamber and with the opposite portion of said loop relatively remote from said point, tem-- porarily separating each support from the preceding and succeeding supports, substantially reversing the position of the loops end to end relative to its said support, while said support is separated to change the relation of the portions of the loops relative to the point of admission of the drying medium, and again propelling said supports, Vin close formation, through another portion of the drying chamber.

2. A-machine for drying loops of materal, salu machine including a drying chamber, means for admitting a heated fluid drying medium to said chamber, a plurality of supports for said loops, means for propelling said supports, in close formation, through said drying chamber with said supports passing through said loops andrwith a portion of each loop proximal to, and the opposite portion of said loop distal from, the point of admission of said medium, means intermediate the ends of said chamber for successively, temporarily, spacing each of said supports from preceding and succeeding sup-ports, and means for ro- 7 v .succeeding supports and substantially;-reversing therpositiens of -Saidbrtions o f said` loops en said-slippen relative'ftofthe point of admission of hf-owing mediumvA vmachine for drying loops vof-inaterial, .said maghi-ne -ine1udinga. d11yirig chamber, means for iadmitting a heated ud drying medium to ysaid ehambeg a plurality-of elongated fiat bars for Slpporting said loops, an endless conve-yor, lmeans for rotatably connecting said bars .to 15a-id Aconveyor, .means for propelling said conveyor through ,said chamben `with said loops depending from said bars, the width of. each of` said laars being Such .that the free, lower end ofaid herregis- ,tlerswth ,a point 0n the loop lie'latvely rempt 'from 'thelpoint of suspension of saidioop from sadfba-r., and means intermediate theends of s aii chamber jor rotating said "bars toY change the poySition of saidioops relative to said bars.

'RALPH C. I'PARKES.

8 .MEEMNGES .-QHED 1- Theioliowipg references are -of record `in the "fieof this-patent:

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